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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, j 

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, i 

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A STUDY, AND SUGGESTED 
ARRANGEMENT, 
READING AND HARMONY 



ONE STORY-FOUR PARTS 



THE SEVERAL NARRATIVES OF 
EVENTS ON THE DAY 



Our Lord's Resurrection. 



By Rufus Lord Perkins. 



ERIE, PA. : 
Ashby & Vincent, Printers. 
1892. 



OF 



OF 




3 "fa* 



0 



Copyright, 1892, by 
Rufus Lord Perkins 



^rinrrm mi waa^ " 

oi- Coiwuass 



If the writer shall succeed in relieving the portions of 
the Holy Scripture herein studied— to any mind— of the 
charge of irreconcilable statements, impairing their 
claim to inerrant inspiration, his object will be accom- 
plished. 



Commentators and Harmonists have found 
great difficulty in reconciling the apparently 
conflicting and contradictory accounts, given 
by the Evangelists, of the events of the morn- 
ing of the day of our Lord's resurrection ; 
especially those of Matthew and Mark. We 
apprehend that the difficulty lies in that they 
all start out with the idea that there was but 
one visit to the Sepulchre, and but one party 
of women ; and that all the accounts refer to 
and describe this one and only visit and party, 
overlooking the fact that Matthews' account 
covers a series of events, related in their proper 
succession, but which occurred at intervals 
during a period of several hours, and em- 
braced more than one party of actors ; and in 
this respect differs materially from those of 
Mark and Luke, which are confined to one 



8 



EVENTS OF THE DAY OF 



visit, and one party of women. Believing the 
latter to be the correct rendering of Matthews' 
account, the writer suggests the following ar- 
rangement and reading. 

EVENTS OF THE DAY OF OUR LORD'S 
RESURRECTION. 

The Jewish week closed with their Sabbath, 
being the seventh or last day of the week ; the 
Sabbath ended and the first day of the follow- 
ing week commenced at sundown ; the morn- 
ing of the first day of the week, however, did 
not arrive until about the next sunrise. Keep- 
ing this distinction in mind, we read, Matt. 28. 
1 : " In the end of the Sabbath, (rev. ver. late on 
the Sabbath day) as it began to dawn (draw on, 
see Luke 23, 54), toward the first day of the 
week, 1 came Mary Magdalen and the other 
L Matt. 28, 1 : 

Opse de sabbatoon te epiphoskouse eis mian sabbatoon — 
Late in the evening of the Sabbath, as it drew on (to- 



our lord's resurrection. 



9 



ward, near) to the first of the week. (Luke, 23, 54 : Sab- 
baton epephosken— the Sabbath drew on.) 

Opse, late evening, is used in opposition to prooi, early 
morning. 

Mark, 16, 1 : 

Kai diagenomenou tou sabbatou—The sabbath having 
passed— ended. Lian prooi — Very early in the morn- 
ing. Anateilantos tou heliou — Sunrising. 

Luke, 24, 1 : 

Orthrou batheoos — The deep twilight of the morning. 
John, 20, 1 : 

\ f 9 — 

Prooi skotias eti ouses — Early in the morning, when 
yet dark. 

The "Vespera" of the Vulgate; the "Abend" of 
Luther, " In the end of the Sabbath," (A. ver.) and " Late 
on the Sabbath day," (R. vei\) all agree with the Greek 
" opse de Sabbatoon." 

It is certainly competent to say that the hour of the 
day marked by these several evening designations cannot 
be the early dawn, or twilight, or sunrise of the morning. 
Even place the dividing point at midnight, as we do, and 
it would not be correct to say that the hour before mid- 
night and the dawn or sunrise of the next day are equiv- 
alent as expressing time when. Evening and morning 
are not interchangeable terms. The visits of Matt., 28, 1, 



10 



EVENTS OF THE DAY OP 



and Mark 16, 1, are separated by at least the period be- 
tween 'opse, near sundown, of the second day, and ana- 
teilantos tou eliou, sunrising, of the third day. 

The women of Matt., 28, 5, make their appearance on 
the morning of the third day, after the resurrection. 

Mary (Cleopas) to see the Sepulchre." These 
women with others had followed Joseph and 
Nicodemus when, on the evening of Friday, 
they had taken the body of Jesus to the tomb, 
and had seen how it was laid ; and now, while 
as yet the Sabbath day was hardly passed, their 
love and anxiety led them to go to " See the 
Sepulchre." Nothing is said of their bringing 
spices, nor are other women mentioned as com- 
ing with them. Their simple errand was " to 
see the Sepulchre" as thousands of bereaved ones 
since, in all ages, have done — as the Jews 
thought Mary of Bethany did, when they said 
of her, "She goeth unto the grave to weep 
there." 2 The time of his promised rising from 

II. Buckingham says he saw scores of females sitting 
near the honored remains of lost relatives or friends — 



our lord's resurrection. 11 



and we know that the tombs were visited, especially dur- 
ing the three days of weeping. But whatever may have 
been the rabbinical law or the law of Jewish custom, we 
may believe that these women had learned the broader 
law of the Sabbath taught by Christ, and then, too, these 
were Galileean women. 

the dead, the third day, had not yet come ; and 
they, no doubt, found everything just as it was 
when they left it on the evening before, except- 
ing only the seal upon the stone, and the 
guard which kept watch. Their thought was 
that the body was still within the tomb, un- 
disturbed, as we may believe it was, and they 
went home to come again after a few hours, 
and bring with them the spices for his annoint- 
ing, hoping, in their strange forgetfulness and 
unbelief, to have some part in the last sad rites 
to be paid to the body of their dead Lord and 
Master. 

At some hour of the late night or early 
morning after this visit of the two Marys, the 
the Lord arose ; the great earthquake occurred, 



12 



EVENTS OF THE DAY OF 



and " the angel of the Lord descended from 
Heaven, and came and rolled back the stone 
from the door and sat upon it." This angel 
had a countenance like lightning, and raiment 
white as snow ; and for fear of him the keep- 
ers did shake and become as dead men. 

At this point " the Women " are introduced, 
and addressed by the angel — presumably the 
angel who sat upon the stone outside of the 
Sepulchre. The time, probably, was not long 
after the Lord had risen, and this party of 
women was the first to come to the tomb after 
that event. Who they were, or how many, we 
are not told ; no names are given by Matthew 
who alone relates this incident in the events of 
the morning, and their introduction is very 
abrupt. 

The supposition that the women here men- 
tioned were the two Marys and this the visit 
spoken of in the first verse is inadmissible. 



our lord's resurrection. 



13 



Their visit had been made late on the Sabbath 
day — the last day of the week, and the second 
after the Crucifixion, — the interview of the 
women with the angel took place on the morn- 
ing of the first day of the week, after the resur- 
rection, on " the third day." Mark says (16, 1,) 
that the two Marys with Salome came to find 
the stone rolled away at sunrise on the morn- 
ing of the first day of the week. His history of 
that visit, and the whole story of Mary Magda- 
len as given by John, forbid the supposition 
that either of the three — Mary Magdalen, Mary 
Cleopas or Salome, were present at the inter- 
view with the angeL 

"And the angel answered and said unto the 
women, ' Fear not ye : 3 for I know that ye seek 

III. From the angels " Fear not Ye," we may suppose 
that it was his appearance in his radiant garb and coun- 
tenance that caused a momentary trepidation. The sim- 
ple fact of a person sitting upon the stone would hardly 
excite fear, or warrant it. 



14 



EVENTS OF THE DAY OF 



Jesus of Nazareth which was crucified. He is 
not here ; he is risen, as he said. Come and 
see the place where the Lord lay. 4 And go 

IV. The angel first addressed the women when outside 
the sepulchre, standing where they could not see the place, 
evidently, for he says, " Come, see the place where the 
Lord lay"; and then after they had changed their posi- 
tions so that they could by stooping or entering, see the 
exact place, we may suppose he finished his address : "Lo, 
1 have told you." He speaks as of his own authority. 

As related by Mark, the women entered the tomb, and 
then saw the young man sitting on the right side. He 
said, behold the place, etc.; no movement in order to see 
it is suggested, nor, probably, was any necessary. They 
stood beside it. In conclusion he says, " as He said unto 
you"; in marked contrast to the " Lo, /have told you " of 
the angel. All goes to show that the two scenes were not 
the same scene, nor were the actors the same in both. 

quickly and tell his disciples that he is risen 

from the dead ; and behold he goeth before 

you into Galilee ; there shall ye see him ; lo, I 

have told you.' And they departed quickly 

from the sepulchre, with fear and great joy; 

and did run to bring his disciples word." 

(Matt. 28, 8.) 



our, lord's resurrection. 15 



This party of women is not said to have 
brought spices, nor to have entered the sep- 
ulchre, nor to have been perplexed and 
affrighted, holding their faces to the ground in 
the presence of two men in shining garments, 
like the party described in Luke 24, 1-5 ; but 
they manifested " great joy" at what was told 
them by the angel ; and sometime after they 
left the tomb were met by Jesus, who said to 
them, "All hail," and as they worshipped him 
and held him by the feet, Jesus said, " Be not 
afraid : Go tell my brethren that they go into 
Galilee, and there shall they see me." Matt. 
28, 9-10. Almost the same words spoken to 
them by the angel at the sepulchre. 

These women would seem to have believed 
the word of the angel, and without hesitation 
accepted the fact of the resurrection. May it 
not be that their ready faith furnished the rea- 
son why Jesus accorded to them the honor of 



16 



EVENTS OF THE DAY OF 



being the second to see him, and the first to 
touch him ? 

Why Jesus commanded these women to tell 
his brethren to go into Galilee, as had been al- 
ready intimated to them by the iangel who 
rolled back the stone, and why the Apostles 
did not obey the command, has been a matter 
of question. It is suggested that these women 
were the representatives of the large body of 
disciples who had come from Galilee, and 
were at this time in Jerusalem, and that the 
command was especially intended for them. 
To the eleven, and to some who had been his 
closer followers, he certainly meant to show 
himself that evening, and later in Jerusalem ; 
but there is no evidence that the great body of 
his disciples saw him until he met them at the 
mountain in Galilee some weeks later ; and no 
evidence that they did not obey the command 
conveyed to them by the women. The ex- 
pense of a prolonged stay in Jerusalem, the 



our lord's resurrection. 17 



possible danger of violence and personal injury 
if they remained among a populace already 
excited by the events of the past week, and the 
further danger of reprisals from the Chief 
Priests and Scribes, might have been reasons 
which led our Lord to send these disciples back 
to Galilee at once, and without having seen 
him. 

Almost immediately after the departure of 
this first party of women, it must have been, 
that Mary Magdalene, Mary Cleopas, and Sa- 
lome, came to the sepulchre. They came 
" very early in the morning (of) the first day 
of the week, at the rising of the sun," (Mark, 
16, 2,) "while it was yet dark," (John, 20, 1.) 
They found the stone rolled away, but the 
angel who rolled it back from the door, and 
sitting upon it, addressed the first party of 
women — the angel of the lightning-like coun- 
tenance and the snow-white raiment had 
disappeared — and when Mary Cleopas and 



18 



EVENTS OF THE DAY OF 



Salome entered the tomb " they saw 5 a 6 young 

V. Mary Cleopas and Salome did not see the young 
man until after they had entered the tomb. 

Luke's party, when they entered, saw no one, but while 
perplexed by the empty tomb, " behold, two men stood 
before them." 

Now, mark the difference in the case of the party de- 
scribed by Matthew : they saw the angel, if they saw him 
at all, outside of the sepulchre : and they certainly did see 
him, for he spoke to them, and, after his introduction, said 
to them, " come and see the place." 

VI. Neaniskon can hardly be regarded as the equiva- 
lent of aggelos, although both were aggeloi, in the sense 
of messenger. 

man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long 
white garment ; and they were affrighted ; and 
he saith unto them, Be not affrighted 7 ; Ye 

VII. Ekthambeithe — Amazed — struck with fear and 
wonder; a much intenser excitement than phobeisthe 
indicates. 

seek Jesus of Nazareth which was crucified ; 
He is risen ; he is not here ; Behold the place 
where they laid him, But go your way tell 
his disciples and Peter (that) He (rev. ver.) goeth 
before you into Galilee ; there shall ye see him, 



our lord's resurrection. 19 



as he said unto you. And they went out 
quickly and fled from the sepulchre, for they 
trembled and were amazed ; neither said they 
anything to any ; for they were afraid." 
(Mark, 16, 5, 8.) 

The effect produced upon these women by 
what they saw and heard was in very marked 
contrast to that produced upon the party which 
preceded them, who, although they feared, 
went away with " great joy." 8 

VIII. Contrast " phobou and charas mega lies "-great 

joy ; great rejoicing ; a joy which, must have found expres- 
/ / / 

sion, with "tromos kai ekstasis," trembling with fear and 
amazement, and so frightened that they could not speak. 

Turning now to John's account (20, 1:2) : It 
would seem that Mary Magdalene must have 
turned away the moment she saw the stone 
had been rolled away, or if she entered the 
sepulchre as the others did, she did not hear 
what the young man in the long white gar- 
ments said, even supposing she saw him, but 



20 



EVENTS OF THE DAY OF 



ran at once "And cometh to Simon Peter and 
John, and saith unto them, they have taken 
away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we 
know not where they have laid him." (John, 
20, 2.) Had she stayed long enough to hear 
the young man's declaration that Jesus had 
risen, and his command to go and tell his dis- 
ciples and Peter, she would not have addressed 
Peter and John as she did. Her idea evident- 
ly was, not that he had risen as he said, but 
that his body had been taken away ; and 
where it had been put they did not know. 9 

IX. For obvious reasons we have taken it for granted 
that Mary Magdalene did not enter the tomb with her 
companions, or, if she entered, did not remain long ; but 
Mark says distinctly and positively, " and entering into 
the sepulchre they saw a young man sitting on the right 
side, " etc. Accept the statement in its fullest meaning. 
She entered with the others and saw the young man. 
The open door had prepared her for something further — 
that they should find a man within was not surprising. 
The great fact to her was that the body of the Lord was 
gone. Hearing him say " He is not here," possibly she 
left without hearing anything more — or, if she stayed to 



our lord's resurrection. 21 



hear all and then fled with the others, separating from 
them to go to tell Peter and John, or anticipating them 
on that errand (for from John's account she was presum- 
ably alone when she found them, although there is noth- 
ing in the record or in the circumstances to compel this 
conclusion). She could not have believed the Young 
Man's statement, as did the women of Matthew the state- 
ment of the angel ; and why ? It seems evident from the 
subsequent history of the events of the morning, that the 
Lord intended to reveal himself to Mary Magdalene at a 
certain time and place. Now, had she accepted the young 
man's statement and his*command, and had she gone to 
tell the disciples that " he goeth before you into Galilee," 
would she have been likely to go back to the tomb to be 
there at the appointed time to meet Jesus ? Was there 
not, therefore, an underlying reason why her eyes were 
holden if she entered the sepulchre, and why she failed to 
apprehend the full meaning of the message, if she heard 
it. This view of the matter enables us to accept Mark's 
account in full, and possibly gives us a clew to the persis- 
tent refusal of Mary to believe anything but that they had 
taken away the body, even up to the moment of her meet- 
ing with the Lord at the tomb, when he revealed him- 
self. 

Mark's account of this visit of the three women is very 
circumstantial. 

John mentions only one incident : that " She saw the 
stone taken away from the sepulchre." He does not say 
that she did or did not enter the tomb, but says, " then 



22 



EVENTS OF THE BAY OF 



she ran to tell Peter and John." It would seem likely, 
however, that she did enter with her companions, for this 
reason : that the evidence furnished by <; the stone taken 
away," would not be sufficient to warrant her positive 
declaration to Peter and John that they had taken away 
the body. She must have had some further evidence, and 
what more likely than that she entered and saw with her 
own eyes the empty place. 

All her conduct goes to show that she could 
not have been one of the party of whom Mat- 
thew speaks. 

While Mary Magdalene was gone, and prob- 
ably after Mary Cleopas and Salome had left 
the tomb — for none of the women seem to have 
stayed long — another party of women, men- 
tioned by Luke (24, 1), came unto the sepul- 
chre, bringing the spices which they had 
prepared; and certain others with them ; a and 
they found the stone rolled away from the 
sepulchre ; and they entered in and found not 
the body of the Lord Jesus. And as they were 
much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men 
stood by them in shining garments ; and, as 



our lord's resurrection. 23 



they were afraid, and bowed down their faces 
to the earth, they said unto them, " Why seek 
ye the living (one) among the dead ? He is 
not here, but is risen : remember how he spake 
unto you when he was yet in Galilee, saying, 
The Son of man must be delivered into the 
hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the 
third day rise again. And they remembered 
his words, and returned (retired) from the sep- 
ulchre, and told all these things unto the 
eleven, and to all the rest." 

It will be noticed that the address to this 
party of women differs materially from the 
words spoken to those who had preceded them. 
There is here no message to the disciples ; no 
command that they go into Galilee, as in Mat- 
thew, or intimation that he would go before 
them thither, as in Mark. Their acceptance of 
the reproof administered, and the quiet way in 
which they left the sepulchre, are in strong 
contrast to the conduct of Mary Cleopas and 



24 



EVENTS OF THE DAY OP 



Salome; while all the circumstances of the 
interview differ from those in the interview re- 
lated by Matthew. 

In further confirmation of this view we refer 

to the conversation between Jesus and the two 

disciples on their way to Emmaus, Luke, 24-22. 

Cleopas says, " Yea, and certain women also of 

our company made us astonished, which were 

early at the sepulchre, and when they found 

not his body they came, saying that they had 

also seen a vision 10 of angels, which said that 

X. This was the only party who saw two men 
" standing by them in the sepulchre." 

he was alive." It is evident that these women 
had not seen the Lord when they told the 
story; they could not, therefore, have been 
the party of whom Matthew speaks, because 
that party saw the Lord, and held him by the 
feet, as they went to tell the disciples, and be- 
fore they found them. The women spoken of 
by Cleopas were, no doubt, those whose visit 



our lord's resurrection. 25 



to the sepulchre is related by Lake. It is 
quite probable that Joanna, wife of Herod's 
steward, mentioned by Luke (24, 10), was one 
of this third party, and, perhaps, Susannah. 

S o far, then, we have : 

First. The two Marys who came to see the 
tomb late on Saturday, i. e., in the end of the 
(Jewish) Sabbath, and before the resurrection, 
and who are said (Mark 16, 1,) to have bought 
sweet spices " when the Sabbath was passed" i. e., 
in the interval after this visit to the sepulchre, 
and after sundown. 

Second. The first party who came after the 
resurrection, and who saw, and were addressed 
by the angel who rolled back the stone from 
the door, and sat upon it ; and who departed 
from the sepulchre with great joy, having be- 
lieved the word of the angel. 

Third. The second party after the resur- 
rection, Mary Magdalene, Mary Cleopas and 



26 



EVENTS OF THE DAY OF 



Salome, two of whom, at least, entered the tomb, 
and saw (evidently when they entered), and 
were addressed by a young man in a long white 
garment, sitting on the right side ; they were 
affrighted by his presence, and after his ad- 
dress, trembling and with amazement fled from 
the sepulchre, saying nothing to any whom 
they may have met. 

Fourth. The third party after the resur- 
rection : They brought spices and ointment 
which they had prepared, probably on Friday 
evening after the crucifixion and burial, for 
Luke says (23, 26) " they returned and pre- 
pared spices and ointments, and rested the Sab- 
bath day, according to the commandment." 
Finding the stone rolled away they entered 
the sepulchre. At first they saw no one, but 
while they were perplexed by the absence of 
the body of the Lord Jesus, two men stood by 
them in shining garments, who reminded 



our lord's resurrection. 27 



them of what the Lord had said to them while 
yet in Galilee, about his resurrection, and re- 
buked them for seeking the living (one) 
among the dead. 

It may be remarked further, that Matthew's 
account of the visit of certain women to the 
sepulchre after the resurrection is circumstan- 
tial, definite and complete in itself ; it does 
not necessarily conflict with any other account, 
nor does it need help from any to enable us to 
understand it. 

Mark's account is wholly devoted to the 
three women, Mary Magdalene, Mary Cleopas 
and Salome ; he mentions no one else, and his 
story is complete in itself. 

Luke confines himself from the 25th verse 
of the 23d chapter to the 9th verse of the 24th 
chapter, to the Galilean women who prepared 
spices and ointments, and rested on the 



28 



EVENTS OF THE DAY OF 



Sabbath day ; his account, like the others, is 
complete in itself, and does not need to be 
explained by reference to any other. 11 

XI. Luke says it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna and 
Mary, the mother of James, and others, that were with 
them which told these things to the apostles, and their 
words seemed to them like idle talk and they believed 
them not. This may be regarded as a summary statement 
that the women mentioned by name and others reported 
to the apostles, but it does not necessarily confine itself to 
the party whose movements he has just described, nor re- 
quire that all of them should have come in a body at the 
same time. This may be true of some of them, for Mary 
Cleopas and Salome may have joined the party of Luke ; 
it could hardly be true of Mary Magdalene, however ; it 
would seem certain that she was alone when she first 
found Peter and John — and even more certain that no one 
accompanied her when she came to tell of her . interview 
with the Lord. 

By this arrangement and reading we avoid 
supposed discrepancies, contradictions and rep- 
etitions. The accounts are of different events and 
not different accounts of the same event, and the 
entire story is continuous, reasonable and sat- 
isfactory. 



our lord's resurrection. 29 



Meanwhile, Mary Magdalene, who had left 
her companions Mary Cleopas and Salome, we 
suppose, had found Simon Peter and John and 
said to them, " They have taken the Lord out 
of the sepulchre, and we know not where 
they have laid him." The two men started at 
once for the tomb. John outran Peter and 
came first to the sepulchre, and stooping down 
saw the linen clothes lying, but did not enter. 
Peter, however, on arriving went in and saw 
the clothes lying, and the napkin wrapped to- 
gether in a place by itself. John followed, and 
of him it is said, he saw and believed ; allow- 
ing the inference that Peter was not yet con- 
vinced, or else he failed to express any opin- 
ion to John. 

"The disciples then went away again to their 
own homes." 

It is to be noticed that these men were left 
to draw their own conclusions from what they 



30 



EVENTS OF THE DAY OF 



saw ; they were not favored with any com- 
munication by angel or man, such as had been 
made to the women. 

It is probable that Mary Magdalene, who 
must have been fatigued by the excitement 
and her hurried journey from the sepulchre, 
fell behind Peter and John in the race, and did 
not reach the place until they had left ; at all 
events, she did not go away with them, " but 
stood without weeping, and as she wept she 
stooped down, and looking into the sepulchre 
saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head 
and the other at the feet, where the body of 
Jesus had lain. And they said unto her, 
" Woman, why weepest thou ? " She answered, 
" Because they have taken away my Lord, and 

I know not where they have laid him." 12 

XII. Mary Magdalene shows no fear at sight of the 
angels ; evidently she did not apprehend their true nature. 

Her evident love for Jesus, and hitherto 
faith in him on the one hand, and her persistent 



our lord's resurrection. 



31 



refusal to believe in his possible rising 
from the dead, on the other, present a strange 
contrariety of feeling. 9 * 

On turning herself back, she saw Jesus 
standing, but failed to recognize him. He then 
said to her, " Woman, why weepest thou ? whom 
seekest thou ? " Supposing him to be the man 
in charge of the garden, she said to him, "Sir, if 
thou hast borne him hence, tell me where thou 
hast laid him, and I will take him away." 
Then followed the familiar " Mary," and the 
instant recognition, " Rabboni." Perhaps she 
sought to touch him, though this is only an 
inference from what follows : " Touch me not, 
for I am not yet ascended to my Father ; but 
go unto my brethren and say unto them, I 
ascend unto my Father and your Father, and 
my God and your God." 

After this Mary Magdalene came and told the 

*See Note on page 20. 



32 



EVENTS OF THE DAY OF 



disciples that she had seen the Lord, and 
delivered his message to them. 

Mark, 16, 9, says : " Jesus appeared first to 
Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast 
seven devils." 

How long it was after this that he met the 
party of women who were first at the sepul- 
chre, to whom he said, "All hail," and suffered 
them to hold him by the feet, we do not know. 
In the interval after their early visit to the 
sepulchre they had been in search of the dis- 
ciples, and somewhere in their journey, and 
evidently before they found them, Jesus met 
them. 

We may believe that the reason for forbid- 
ding Mary Magdalene to touch him no longer 
existed ; i. e., he had, meantime, and immedi- 
ately after his short interview with Mary, 
ascended to his Father, as he said. The move- 
ment was instantaneous, as was his return, 



OUR lord's resurrection. 33 



after which he met the women, as related by 
Matthew. The prejudice in favor of but one 
ascension has led commentators, almost uni- 
versally, to endeavor to get rid of the literal 
and obvious meaning of the words spoken by 
Jesus to Mary. 

Touch me not, they change into cling not to 
me (as if she had already embraced him), giv- 
ing thereby a forced and altogether unusual 
interpretation to the Greek Aptomai, a word 
which is used more than twenty times in the 
Evangelists, in the sense of touch, as we un- 
derstand it. 

I am not yet ascended, they change to, I am 
not going to ascend immediately, i. e., Go tell 
my disciples that I shall ascend (40 days hence), 
thus converting the present or perfect into the 
future tense. The paraphrase is vastly more 
confusing than the text itself, for why should 
his purpose to ascend 40 days after be a reason 



34 



EVENTS OF THE DAY OF 



why Mary should not touch him, when an 
hour after he would suffer other women to 
hold him by the feet ? and why send such a 
message to his disciples at all when he pur- 
posed to meet them repeatedly during the in- 
terval ? 

He told her not to touch him ; why ? Be- 
cause he had not yet ascended to his Father. 

That was his reason — and not (do not touch 
me), because you will have plenty of time here- 
after to touch me. 

" Go to my brethren and say to them, I as- 
cend to my Father and your Father/' etc. 
There is no suggestion of the future in these 
words ; they are in the present tense and indi- 
cate an immediate action. 

Almost the only ground or cause for this 
command of Jesus that I have ever seen sug- 
gested, I find in " Notes On Scripture," by the 



our lord's resurrection. 35 



late Judge Joel Jones, of Philadelphia, published 
in a Literary and Religious Review some forty 
years ago. Judge Jones was a man of excep- 
tional ability in scripture exegesis and literary 
criticism, and I am indebted to him for many 
of the thoughts suggested in this harmony. I 
quote from him : 

" The High Priest under the Levitical econ- 
omy was a type of Christ. He only, of all the 
Priests, went into the holiest place once a year, 
and then not without blood. No person was 
permitted to be with him in the tabernacle of 
the congregation (or tent of meeting between 
God and man) on the Great Day of Atonement. 
Preparatory to the solemnities of the day, the 
High Priest was removed from his house and 
family during seven days, lest he might con- 
tract a defilement which would disqualify him 
for the solemn occasion. On the day of Atone- 
ment he purified himself with water before he 



36 



EVENTS OF THE DAY OF 



entered on his duties ; and one reason why no 
person was permitted to be with him in the 
tabernacle at that time was (it is probable) to 
prevent the possibility of ceremonial or actual 
pollution, by even the slightest touch of any of 
the people on whose behalf he was acting. 
Now, the whole of this ceremonial was typical 
of the sacraficial word of the Lord Jesus ; and 
when he appeared to Mary he was, so to speak, 
midway in the act of making that atonement 
which the Levitical ceremonial and the High 
Priest prefigured. He, the Priest and the vic- 
tim, had been slain, his blood shed, but he had 
not yet entered the Holy Place (Heb. 9, 11-12) 
— that is, the Upper Sanctuary, of which the 
earthly was a type ; or, using his own words, 
he had not yet ascended to the father, but at 
that very moment was on the point of doing 
so. No person, therefore, could intercept or 
even touch his person at that time. Hence, as 
we suppose, the prohibition, " Touch me not." 



our lord's resurrection. 37 



the type must be fulfilled in all points, and in 
this as well as others." 

Why Mary Magdalene was chosen to fulfil 
the office which she no doubt did at this par- 
ticular time ; why Jesus showed himself to her 
and to her only, rather than to his mother, or 
to one or more of his disciples, are interesting 
questions, but cannot be discussed here. We 
can believe that such was his sovereign pleas- 
ure, and that it was not without adequate rea- 
son. 

Luke (24, 12,) speaks of what may be re- 
garded as Peter's second visit to the sepulchre. 
At this visit he stooped down and saw the 
clothes, but evidently did not enter the tomb, 
as he had done when there earlier with John. 
We may suppose that the report of Mary Mag- 
dalene, that she had seen the Lord, induced 
this second visit, in the hope, possibly, that he 
too might be favored with the blessed vision. 



38 



EVENTS OF THE DAY OF 



He departed, however, wondering in himself 
at that which had come to pass. But some- 
time during the day, and before the evening 
meeting with the eleven, the Lord appeared to 
Simon, as told to Cleopas and his friend after 
their return from Emmaus. 

The same day two of them — one named Cle- 
opas (not unlikely the husband of Mary, the 
companion of Mary Magdalene and Salome, 
though a difference in spelling has raised a 
question,) went to a place called Emmaus, 
about eight miles from Jerusalem. Jesus ac- 
costed them as they walked along, and after 
sitting with them at table and revealing him- 
self in the breaking of bread, " vanished out 
of their sight." The account of this interview 
is given at length by Luke only, but is men- 
tioned incidentally by Mark (16, 12-13). "Af- 
ter that he appeared in another form unto two 
of them, as they walked, and went into the 
country. And they went and told it unto the 



our lord's resurrection. 39 



residue; neither believed they them." The 
residue here mentioned refers, probably, to 
such disciples as Cleopas and his companion 
met on their return, and does not include the 
eleven and those who were with them, for 
when Cleopas joined them in the supper room 
they were met by the announcement, "The 
Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared unto 
Simon ;" and this before they had told their 
story. 

While Cleopas and his companion were re- 
lating the incidents of the afternoon, Jesus 
himself stood in the midst of them, and said, 
" Peace be unto you." This was the first time 
any of the eleven except Peter had seen him, 
and they were terrified and frightened, and 
supposed they had seen a spirit. And he said 
to them, "Why are ye troubled? Why do 
thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my 
hands and my feet, that it is I myself ; handle 



40 



EVENTS OP THE DAY OF 



me, and see ; for a spirit hath not flesh and 
bones, as ye see me have. And when he had 
thus spoken he showed them his hands and his 
feet." He also ate of a broiled fish and of honey 
before them. 

Mark (16, 14,) says : "Afterward he appeared 
unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and up- 
braided them for their unbelief and hardness 
of heart, because they believed not them that 
had seen him after he was risen." 

John (20, 19,) adds his testimony in these 
words : " Then the same day at evening, being 
the first day of the week, when the doors were 
shut where the disciples were assembled, for 
fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the 
midst, and saith unto them, " Peace be unto 
you." He then showed them his hands and 
his side, and said to them again, " Peace be 
unto you ;" as my Father hath sent me, even 
so send I you. And he breathed on them, and 




our lord's resurrection. 41 



said, " Receive ye the Holy Ghost ; whoseso- 
ever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto 
them, and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are 
retained." 

Continuing to speak of this same interview, 
Mark says (16, 15) : "And he said unto them, 
go ye into all the world and preach the gospel 
to ever creature. 13 He that believeth and is 

XIII. The same command : " Go ye therefore, and 
teach all nations," he gave to the disciples who met him 
at the mountain in Galilee, as recorded by Math 28, 19. 
Note. — This 19th verse is marked with a with the in- 
tent, evidently, to relegate the command to the time of 
the final ascension, but the conjunction " therefore" con- 
nects the verse with the preceding context inseparably. 
" All power is given to me in heaven and in earth, go ye 
therefore" etc. 

The same character is used with the same obvious 
intent before the 19th verse of the 16th Chap, of Mark, 
but the connecting phrase " so then " forbids any such 
dislocation of the narrative. 

The by whosesoever authority it was inserted in the 
authorized version, is many times an unfortunate feature ; 
it disjoins violently, and breaks the continuity of the dis- 
course or history, and serves only to confuse the reader 
without at all assisting to a correct interpretation, but 
often the contrary. 



42 



EVENTS OF THE DAY OF 



baptized shall be saved ; but he that believeth 
not shall be damned," and then mentions 
" these signs " that shall follow them that be- 
lieve ; 19th v., " So then after the Lord had 
spoken unto them he was received up into 
heaven, and sat on the right hand of God." 

Luke, in his further account of this inter- 
view repeats what Jesus said to them of the 
fulfilment of the things concerning himself, 
which were written in the law of Moses, in the 
prophets and psalms, and says that he opened 
their understandings that they might under- 
stand the Scriptures : how it behooved Christ to 
suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day ; 
and that repentance and remission of sins should 
be preached in his name among all nations, 
beginning at Jerusalem. "And, behold, I send 
the promise of my Father upon you ; but tar- 
ry ye in the city of Jerusalem until ye be en- 
dued with power from on high. 14 And he led 

XIV. That is, we venture to suggest, do not go away 



our lord's resurrection. 43 



from Jerusalem on this world-wide mission until you shall 
be endued with power from on high. Meanwhile they 
did go up to Galilee where Jesus met some of them at the 
sea, and all of them at the mountain, after which they 
returned to Jerusalem and waited, after his ascension 
from Mt. Olivet, for the promise of the Father. At the 
mountain Our Lord repeated his command : " Go teach 
all nations ; " and if we assume that it was at this time 
and place that the (i above 500 brethren at once " were 
gathered (1 Cor. J 5, 6), may we not suppose that the com- 
mand as now repeated (Matt. 28, 18-19) was addressed, 
to the apostles first, but to the whole assembled church as 
well, 'lhat it was not confined to the eleven would seem 
evident from what our Lord says in conclusion, " Lo, I am 
with you always, unto the end of the world." In this 
view how does its broader significance touch every indi- 
vidual Christian, and the church as a whole, in all ages. 

them out as far as to Bethany ; and he lifted 
up his hands and blessed them. And it came 
to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted 
from them, and carried up into heaven. And 
they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusa- 
lem with great joy ; and were continually in 
the temple praising and blessing God. Amen." 

It is said by Luke that Cleopas found the 
eleven gathered together and them that were 
with them. Mark says he appeared unto the 



44 



EVENTS OF THE DAY OF 



eleven as they sat at meat. John says Thomas, 
one of the twelve, was not with them when 
Jesus came. If we suppose that Thomas had 
been present, but for some reason, at the mo- 
ment of Christ's appearance had gone out and 
away, it will perhaps satisfy all the require- 
ments of the case ; or, we may regard the term 
" eleven " as a name or designation applied to 
the body or Company of Apostles. 

The events of this, the most notable day in 
the calendar of the world's history, are thus 
ended with his being carried up and received 
into heaven, from the midst of his disciples, 
and while with uplifted hands he blessed them. 

He had led them out as far as 15 to Bethany, 

XV. The revised version reads, he led them u until 
they came over against Bethany," but I fail to find a 
single instance in which eis is used in the sense of over- 
against, adjacent, opposite to, in locality. Many times it 
is used as against, but it always implies contact, touch, if 
of something material ; or a contact, a clashing of wills or 
feeling or purpose, etc. "Ye are against me, saith the 



our lord's resurrection. 45 



Lord ;" never in the sense of over-against, at a distance; 
separated from locally. To express over-against in this 
sense, this same writer uses katenanti (sic) — "go to the 
village over-against you." Mark uses the same word ; 
Matthew uses apenanti in the same connection. 

It would seem natural that Luke would use the same 
<4 katenanti," in this place, if he meant to say exactly the 
same thing — to express precisely the same conditions. 
Heoos eis is an intensified expression, and it means literal- 
ly and exactly until into. This is what he meant to say, 
and what he does say : " He led them until they came into 
the very village of Bethany," or, in the words of the A. V., 
as far as, to, into, Bethany. 

Canon Farrar says " Heoos pros" is the better reading. 
That is : he led them out toward Bethany. But why use 
this expression when he led them only to Mt. Olivet, a 
point a mile nearer to the city, and a locality better 
known even than Bethany. Why not have said he led 
them to Mt. Olivet. If we were reading this passage in 
Livy, or Tacitus, or Josephus, would not the inevitable 
conclusion be that he led them not over-against or toward 
but into Bethany. And most certainly neither Luke him- 
self, nor any other of the writers of the New Testament, 
undertakes to correct the statement if it is a mistaken one. 

two miles from Jerusalem ; and it must now 

have been far into the night. Whether the 

ascension was visible to them to any extent 

we are not told, but men who wrote as they 



46 



EVENTS OF THE DAY OF 



were moved by the Holy Ghost, have given us 
the account, and we do well to accept it. One 
of them, Luke, in his second treatise to his 
friend Theophilus (the Acts) gives an account 
of the later and final ascension of Jesus at the 
end of the forty days, from Mt. Olivet, one 
mile from Jerusalem, in the day time, where a 
cloud received him out of their sight, and two 
men in white apparel stood by them, and told 
them that " this same Jesus which is taken up 
from you into heaven shall so come in like 
manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." 
And they returned from Mt, Olivet, which is 
from Jerusalem a Sabbath day's journey ; and 
when they were come in, they went into an 
upper room, where abode the eleven; and 
these all continued with one accord in prayer 
and supplication, with the women, and Mary, 
the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren. 

The points to which I would call attention 
in this suggested harmony, are : 



our lord's resurrection. 47 



First — That the visit of Mary Magdalene 
and Mary Cleopas to see the sepulchre was 
made late on the Sabbath day — before the 
resurrection. 

Second — That three several parties of women, 
in rapid succession, came to the tomb after the 
resurrection. 

Third — That neither two of the parties saw 
the same heavenly visitants (as described), nor 
were addressed in precisely the same words. 

Fourth — That the effect produced upon 
them differed widely in each case from the 
others. 

Fifth — That the message and command to 
go into Galilee was intended for the Galilean 
women, and the disciples whom they repre- 
sented, and not for the eleven. 

Sixth — That the prohibition, " Touch me 
not," is to be understood in its plain and liter- 
al sense, and the reason given for the prohibi- 
tion by Jesus, to be accepted as the true one. 



48 



EVENTS OF THE DAY OF 



Seventh — That he ascended to his Father, 
as he said, when he disappeared from Mary's 
sight. 

Eighth— That Thomas was present with the 
" eleven " when Cleopas and his friend entered 
the supper room ; going away, however, before 
Jesus appeared. Or, that the term " Eleven is 
used as a designation of the whole body of 
apostles, and its use does not require every one 
of the eleven to be present at a given time. 16 

XVI. As we use Congress, Senate, Cabinet. 

Ninth — That the events of this notable first 
day of the week were closed by the ascension 
of Jesus at Bethany in the night time. 

Like the opinion with regard to the visits to 
the sepulchre, so the opinion has been almost 
universal that there was but one ascension of 
our Lord. Commentators have labored so to 
explain the words of Jesus to Mary Magdalene, 
as to avoid the necessity of accepting the fact 
of an ascension at the time of that interview : 



our lord's resurrection. 49 



while the ascension mentioned by Lnke and 
Mark is referred to the event which occurred 
forty days later. 

Having already expressed our view of the 
action of our Lord at the time of his interview 
with Mary Magdalene, we proceed to give some 
reasons for the opinion that the ascent from 
Bethany was an entirely distinct event from 
that from the Mount of Olives. And first, it 
is to be noticed that nowhere do the Evangel- 
ists say that there was but one ascension, or 
that Jesus did not ascend until the end of forty 
days after his resurrection. Neither is there 
any intimation in any of his epistles that the 
Apostle Paul held this view. At the same 
time there is every reason to suppose that in 
the several instances in which he speaks of the 
fact of an ascending, he refers to the final pub- 
lic, glorious ascension from Mount Olivet. 

Matthew says nothing about any ascension ; 
he closes his gospel with the meeting in 



50 



EVENTS OF THE DAY OF 



Galilee at the mountain where Jesus had ap- 
pointed them. 

John ends his history with the meeting at 
the sea of Tiberias with the seven disciples, 
and is silent with regard to the ascension from 
Olivet. Mark brings his account down to the 
first meeting with the eleven, and the subse- 
quent ascension of our Lord; or, in the re- 
vised version, to the visit of Mary Magdalene 
and Mary, mother of James and Salome. He 
makes no mention of the ascension from Mount 
Olivet, unless we understand his 19th v., 16th 
chap, as referring to that event ; with this pos- 
sible but hardly reasonable exception, Luke 
alone is the historian of the final ascension. 
The story is related in the first chapter of the 
Acts of the Apostles, of which Luke is the au- 
thor. In his introduction he refers to the 
former treatise, i. e., the Gospel which bears his 
name, and claims the authorship of both. That 
both were written by the same hand is certain, 



our lord's resurrection. 51 



and both are addressed to the same most ex- 
cellent Theophilus ; facts which have an im- 
portant bearing upon the subject in hand. 

Turning to the first chapter of the Acts we 
read : " The former treatise have I made, 0 ! 
Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do 
and teach, until the day in which he was taken 
up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had 
given commandment unto the Apostles whom 
he had chosen, and being assembled together 
with them commanded them that they should 
not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the 
promise of the Father which saith he, ye have 
heard of me. For John truly baptized with 
water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy 
Ghost not many days hence." 

With this explicit statement of the exact 
day and event down to which he had brought 
the history in his former treatise, and repeat- 
ing in part the very words before recorded in 



52 



EVENTS OF THE DAY OF 



his gospel, he ends his introduction, and pro- 
ceeds to give a most graphic description of the 
final interview of our Lord with his disciples, 
and of his ascension from the Mount called 
Olivet. 

The third verse, which we have omitted 
above, is evidently parenthetical, and refers to 
the several appearances of our Lord to the 
disciples — after the visit to Bethany — of which 
he had given no account in his former treatise, 
closing that treatise with the events of the day 
of the resurrection. 

6th v., "When they therefore were come to- 
gether, or as it is in the rev. ver : They, therefore, 
when they were come together asked of him, 
(probably remembering some previous conver- 
sation,) Lord wilt thou at this time restore 
again the Kingdom to Israel? And he said 
unto them. It is not for you to know the 
times or the seasons which the Father hath put 



our lord's resurrection. 53 



in his own power. But ye shall receive power 
after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you ; 
and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in 
Jerusalem, and in all Judea and in Samaria, 
and unto the uttermost parts of the earth. 
And when he had spoken these things, while 
they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud 
received him out of their sight. And while 
they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he 
went up, behold two men stood by them in 
white apparel, which also said, Ye men of Gal- 
ilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? 
This same Jesus which is taken from you into 
heaven shall so come in like manner as ye 
have seen him go into heaven. Then returned 
they unto Jerusalem from the Mount called 
Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a Sabbath 
day's journey. 17 And when they were come in 

XVII. Two thousand stadia— 5 to 7 furlongs, a short 
mile. 

they went up into an upper room where abode 



54 



EVENTS OF THE DAY OF 



Peter and James, and John and Andrew, Philip 
and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, 
James, the son of Alpheus, and Simon Zelotes, 
and Judas, the brother of James. These all 
continued with one accord in prayer and sup- 
plication, with the women, and Mary, the 
Mother of Jesus, and with his brethren. 

We repeat Luke's account of what occurred 
at Bethany : And he led them out as far as to 
Bethany ; and he lifted up his hands and 
blessed them. And it came to pass while he 
blessed them, he was parted from them and 
carried up into heaven ; and they worshipped 
him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, 
and were continually in the temple praising 
and blessing God. 



our lord's resurrection. 55 



Let us compare the two : 



luke's gospel: 

Bethany, 15 furlongs, 2 miles 
from Jerusalem. — John 11, 
18. 

In the night; no evidence 
that they saw him ascend 
to the cloud. 

No final conversation record- 
ed as had at Bethany. 

A lifting of the hands and 

blessing. 
A parting — "taken up." 
No cloud. 

No heavenly visitants. 
No promise of his coming 
again. 

Return to Jerusalem from 
Bethany with great joy, 
and they were continually 
in the temple praising and 
blessing God — probably 
during the passover week. 



luke's acts of the apostlls : 

Mount Olivet, 7% furlongs, 
one mile, a Sabbath day's 
journey from Jerusalem. — 
Acts, 1, 12. 

In the day time ; they saw 
him go up until a cloud re- 
ceived him out of their 
sight. 

A final conversation exceed- 
ingly interesting and im- 
portant at Mt. Olivet. 

No lifting of the hands or 
blessing. 

A parting — "taken up." 

A cloud received him. 

Two men stood by them in 
white apparel, and address- 
ed them, promising his 
coming again in like man- 
ner. 

Return from Mt. Olivet to 
Jerusalem and go into an 
upper chamber where 
abode the Apostles; and 
they continued with one 
accord (i. e., together) in 
prayer and supplication, 
with Mary, the Mother of 
Jesus, the women, and his 
brethren. 



The one only point of agreement is the 
"taken up." 



56 



EVENTS OF THE DAY OF 



Luke wrote both histories. Is it probable — 
is it possible that he would have written them 
as of one and the same event ? Are not the 
differences too many and too great to admit of 
any reasonable harmony ? No amount of in- 
genuity can make them agree. If, however, 
we will disabuse our minds of the idea — shall 
I say unwarranted idea — that there could have 
been but one ascension, and accept the histo- 
ries in their plain and literal import, we shall 
have no need to weary ourselves with the en- 
deavor to invent an impossible harmony. 

There is certainly great mystery in the fact 
that none of the Evangelists, not even John or 
Matthew, who were eye-witnesses, were per- 
mitted by the Holy Ghost to tell the story of 
our Lord's ascension from Olivet in their gos- 
pels. It was left for Luke, years after the Gos- 
pel was written, to relate it in connection with 
his history of events on and after the day of 
Pentecost. 



our lord's resurrection. 57 



The history of events as we have given it is intended 
to be strictly according to the text. As there is no neces- 
sity, so there is no endeavor to alter, modify or evade any 
word or statement of any of the writers. The whole nar- 
rative is natural. There is nothing related that might not 
have taken place, or been said, and in the order in which 
it is placed. There is nothing strained, nothing accom- 
modated, nothing guessed at — unless it be in bringing 
Mary Magdalene and her companions to the sepulchre 
earlier than the women of Luke. 

All attempts to accommodate these sacred histories so 
as to make them tell a harmonious story have ended only 
in incomplete and unsatisfactory "harmony," a result 
which makes it as certain as possible, that a perfect har- 
mony can never be arrived at on the lines hitherto pur- 
sued. If such men as Lardner, Gresweil, Ebrard, Lange 
and Robinson, Farrar and Andrews cannot do it, it is safe 
to conclude that it cannot be done. 

The record is an inspired one of some of the most 
interesting and important events in the life of our Lord. 

Some of the men who wrote were eye-witnesses of 
the events they relate. Two of them, it may be, were not 
witnesses of any, but we can have confidence in their 
record because they wrote as they were moved by the Holy 
Ghost. Not as moved by memory of facts gained by per- 
sonal observation or obtained from others, or by some 
other motive, but as moved by the Holy Ghost They 
wrote the words in which the thoughts with which He 



58 



EVENTS OF THE DAY OF 



inspired their minds necessarily took form, and became 
objective to their own consciousness. He did not in any 
sense disturb or do violence to their mental machinery, or 
its operation in accordance with its nature, but he recog- 
nized the law that thought takes form and becomes con- 
scious to ourselves and communicable to others only 
through the medium, or in the garb of language or sign ; 
in other words our concepts are in words or symbols, and 
in this way alone do they become substantial and cogniz- 
able to ourselves. Ordinarily we think in words, and we 
receive the thoughts of others into our minds and com- 
municate our thoughts to other minds in words. So the 
Holy Ghost communicated His thoughts to the minds of 
the writers in words, and as they wrote as moved by the 
Holy Ghost, they wrote His words, and thus the record 
they wrote is the word of God, and its veracity, of course, 
absolute. 

The inspiration of the Bible has been and is a very 
much abused subject. A score of theories with regard to 
what it is, and the modus operandi, have been advanced 
and discussed time immemorial. Yet we are conver- 
sant with inspiration, and as we experience it in ourselves 
and see its exhibition in others, we have little difficulty 
in comprehending it. The poet is inspired by a falling 
leaf, a chance word, a look, an incident ; the interpreta- 
tion finds expression in language, in the very words in 
which it becomes cognizable to him as a thought— in the 
very garb of its conception. So the artist is inspired, and 



our lord's resurrection. 



59 



the thought as it issues from his mind clothed in symbol 
finds expression on the canvass. The writers of the Holy 
Record were inspired by the Holy Ghost ; by the law of 
their minds they received the inspiration in words, these 
words they wrote, and thus the record as they wrote it is 
the word of the Holy Spirit, that is of God. 

Nor does a translation into another language affect this 
characteristic if, only, the word used in the new language 
is a true equivalent of the word used in the original. If, 
as we believe, the holy records have been preserved in 
their integrity, then we have a true history unaffected in 
its truth by any mistake, misapprehension, imperfect 
knowledge, inadequate or erroneous conception, or fault 
of language, defective remembrance or ulterior purpose 
on the part of the human writers. The natural current of 
thought was in no wise interfered with, nor was the 
knowledge they already had of events either ignored or 
contradicted ; the language of the inspiration was such as 
was proper to them, such as they understood and were 
accustomed to use, and such as those for whom they wrote 
could understand ; thus their individuality in idiom, in 
temperament, in peculiarity of any kind, is always pre- 
served. 

It is almost impossible in the endeavor to obtain a 
' 'harmony" not to be influenced by some theory, some 
venerable precedent ; what Dr. Bruce calls a '* traditional 
exegesis and how much this has to do with interpreta- 
tion we have evidence every day. We are also becoming 



60 



EVENTS OF THE DAY OF 



aware that to tamper with the inspired record is a dan- 
gerous thing, however well-meaning and honest the 
meddling may be. Unfortunately the present time is es- 
pecially marked by a disposition to handle the sacred 
records roughly, as if their inspiration by the Holy Ghost 
gave them no right to a different treatment at the hand of 
criticism, than it gives to pagan classics, or books of his- 
tory and doctrine of acknowledged human authorship. 

There certainly can be no objection to a fair and 
decorous criticism of the Bible ; a criticism involving the 
most extended and exhaustive research and careful ex- 
amination, helped by all that can be brought to its aid by 
the highest learning in history, science and literature, but — 
we submit — always with a recognition of that characteristic 
which distinguishes the Holy Scriptures from all other 
writings. To deny, or ignore, or emasculate their inspira- 
tion by the Holy Ghost is neither fair nor decorous, nor can 
such a criticism conduce to a better interpretation of their 
contents. 

The Christian axiom is that God is Truth. He 
cannot lie. 

The Bible is the record given and written by in- 
spiration of the Holy Ghost; the Bible, therefore, like 
its author, must be truth. Truth cannot conflict with 
truth. The Bible cannot contradict itself, nor can it con- 
flict with ascertained truth in any department of human 
knowledge. It follows that every related truth claimed 
in any department of human knowledge must show its 



our lord's resurrection. 61 



harmony with the Bible to demand our acceptance. The 
Bible and not science is the ascertained quantity— hence 
to require that the Bible shall accommodate itself to 
human speculations, or to the incomplete accomplishments 
of human science, or its imperfect, unstable theories 
changing with every new developement, is manifestly 
absurd. 



! 



I 
I 



I 



i 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: July 2005 

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